ANAT SPECTRA Reciprocity: Beeyali Tallo Billa was presented as a series of interconnected experiences framing ANAT SPECTRA Reciprocity, a national gathering of Australian artists working across art, science and technology, hosted on Kabi Kabi Country in 2025. The work opened with an original audio-visual immersion combining Lyndon Davis's paintings, Tricia King's photography and Leah Barclay's soundscapes. The creative program closed with a live mixed deep-listening experience aboard Sunreef's Whale One, shaped in real time by migrating humpback whales and ocean conditions, accompanied by a take-home augmented reality artwork featuring highlights from the experiences.
ANAT SPECTRA Reciprocity explored the ethics and possibilities of reciprocal exchange across planetary, cultural, ecological and technological systems, asking how reciprocity might guide us as a concept, a material practice and a lived experience. Beeyali Tallo Billa responded to this theme by reframing how a gathering itself is structured, opening on land with image, sound and story, and closing at sea with connection and collaboration. Rather than marking the beginning of a program and leaving participants to disperse, the work created a circular structure of return, deepening participants' relationship to Country, knowledge and each other across the days they spent together. The take-home augmented reality artwork extended this structure beyond the event itself, allowing participants to carry the experience, and its connections.
Beeyali Tallo Billa was selected through a national curatorial process by ANAT (Australian Network for Art and Technology), Australia's leading organisation supporting artists working across art, science and technology. The work framed the three-day national gathering on Kabi Kabi Country, alongside a major exhibition and program of performances and installations. The project is a collaboration between Lyndon Davis, Leah Barclay and Tricia King, and has received funding from the Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre, the Queensland Government's Engaging Science program, and the Australian Government through Creative Australia.
Research Background Cultural and ecological gatherings often rely on a single framing moment, a welcome or a keynote, after which audiences disperse into a program, with little structure returning them to where they began. Within Indigenous-led creative practice, relationships to Country are understood as ongoing and reciprocal, requiring more than a single point of acknowledgement (Martin, 2008). This research asks: how can a creative work be presented across a program, opening and closing the event to create a circular structure of return, one that deepens participants' relationship to Country, knowledge and each other across a multi-day experience? Research Contribution Beeyali Tallo Billa was presented as a series of interconnected experiences framing ANAT SPECTRA Reciprocity, a national gathering hosted on Kabi Kabi Country in 2025. The work opened with an original audio-visual immersion combining Davis's paintings, King's photography and Barclay's soundscapes. The creative program closed with a live mixed deep-listening experience aboard Sunreef's Whale One, shaped in real time by migrating humpback whales and ocean conditions, with a take-home augmented reality artwork featuring highlights from the experiences. This structure introduces a new model for how creative practice can hold a multi-day gathering together, opening on land with image and story and closing at sea, returning participants to a deepened relationship with Country. The work demonstrates new approaches to immersive cultural tourism connecting Indigenous knowledge, environmental science, emerging technology and creative practice to place. Research Significance Beeyali Tallo Billa was presented as part of ANAT SPECTRA Reciprocity 2025, selected through a national curatorial process by ANAT, Australia's leading organisation supporting artists working across art, science and technology. The work framed the three-day national gathering on Kabi Kabi Country, alongside a major exhibition and program of performances and installations. The project has received funding from the Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre ($3000), the Queensland Government's Engaging Science program ($19,376) and the Australian Government through Creative Australia ($25,485).